


Scott Makes Friends

by Centeris2



Series: Poly Pile [5]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: Multi, Pole Pile AU, and once again no chapters just 25 pages, it's more likely than you think, me not resume writing after sleeping?, one day, one day there will be more to this, so I may have like passed out while writing this, so it just cuts off oops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/pseuds/Centeris2
Summary: The day after taking Scott into Jorvik City, Rebecca takes him to meet friends. Proper socialization of your vampire is key to their mental health.





	Scott Makes Friends

Scott woke up to an incredible feeling of bliss, realizing Rebecca was still there in his arms. At some point in the night he had rolled onto his back and Rebecca had followed, her head on his chest. 

This, this was perfect. 

Just him and Rebecca, snuggled together under blankets in her stable, hidden from the world. He was surprised how warm and heavy the blankets were, it felt like he was totally wrapped in them, and he didn’t remember them being this heavy last night. In fact, it felt like there was a heater next to him. 

A snorting made him look to his side, a seal blinking at him.

“AH!” he didn’t mean to yelp but there was a seal. In the tack room. Where- how?

The seal barked at the cry and Rebecca jerked awake, sitting up and looking at Scott.

“Oh, good morning, Kells!” Rebecca said with a smile, petting the now whimpering seal next to Scott. The light brown seal with a black heart mark on its head cried, lumbering over Scott to get closer to Rebecca.

“Oh honey! No! You’re getting too big for that!” Rebecca tried to push the seal off Scott, who had gasped and had no idea what to do about a seal over his stomach.

“Come on sweetie,” Rebecca said as she stood and stepped over Scott, “you and the others should go hunting.”

The seal, Kells, whined and followed Rebecca out of the tack room, leaving Scott gasping for breath and very confused.

He scrambled up and poked his head out of the tack room, bewildered by the amount of activity in the barn. There wasn’t just one seal, there were maybe seven or eight, barking and yapping and jumping up as Rebecca walked through them.

“Honestly, you guys don’t need me to get out,” Rebecca laughed but opened the main door, the seals flopping their way out into the sun.

Heavy purring and fur made Scott glanced down, a bright orange cat rubbing against him and practically vibrating from how hard it was purring. He stiffled a cry when something landed on his head, a fox looking at him before hopping down to the floor and scampering away.

“I thought you were a horse girl,” Scott muttered, looking up and seeing squirrels running along the rafters and out an open window.

“Oh, I am!” Rebecca grinned before she ran over to him and threw her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.

“Good morning!” she chirped, purring a bit herself when Scott hugged her back. 

“Mornin,” he murmured to her. There, now it was just him and her and oh dear.

Midnightwarrior snorted and nudged Rebecca before turning and trotting away.

“Let me get my boots on! Geez!” Rebecca called after her horse before she slipped on socks and boots she had in the tack room.

“You’re in pjs,” Scott pointed out as she headed toward the door.

“Yeah, so? You may want to put on a shirt,” she grinned at him, the fox from before jumping and climbing up to her shoulders.

“Good morning, Sly!” she cooed to the fox, giving it a scratch, “where are the others?” 

The red fox jumped down and raced down the hallway.

Scott grabbed his clothes and got dressed before heading out, seeing Rebecca waiting for him at an open side door. 

“Told you I’m a horse girl,” she teased when he stopped and looked at all the horses.

“Damn…” Scott muttered, a bit afraid to go out into the yard as there were so many horses, all of them nickering and sniffing Midnightwarrior and Rebecca in greeting.

“Most of them I’m just training for the summer,” Rebecca reassured him before she held out her hand to guide him through the mass of horses. He took her hand, happy to have her to anchor him as horses investigated him.

“You said you did western riding, do you have a horse?” she asked, providing a distraction from several very large horses sniffing him and studying him.

“Uh yeah, I mean no. I leased a horse when I rode I mean,” he explained.

“You don’t ride anymore?”

“My, uh, riding privileges have been revoked until the bridge is done,” Scott scowled. The last bit was a partial lie, the revoked privileges and building the bridge were both punishments. But he hoped he would get to ride again once the bridge was complete.

“Oh, um, how? Like, were you forbidden or?” she wondered how it worked. Surely if he wanted to ride he could work out a deal with Natalie at New Hillcrest stables.

“Junior and Father control the money, no money no leasing,” he explained, bitterness evident in his voice.

“Ah, and I’m sure they prefer to keep you dependent on them for money,” Rebecca guessed. Junior seemed to be the controlling type like that, and keeping Scott busy with tasks around Butter Hill prevented him from getting his own income.

“Yeah, the, uh, ‘payment’ I get for my work around the mansion let’s me do a few things, but is not enough to lease a horse again,” he didn’t like using the word allowance, that seemed like a childish thing, but that’s what it felt like. If Junior and his Father were feeling gracious and like Scott had earned money then Scott finally had some fun money. Some was stashed away, a vague dream that just maybe he’d be able to get away if he could get enough together. But mostly it went to distractions. Anything that would make him think of something other than his family.

“I see. Well, I won’t charge you!” she suggested with a wink and a nudge.

“I’m not accepting a horse,” he rejected the offer, making Rebecca snort.

“Right, because I can exercise all these horses by myself. You’d be helping me out,” she pointed out. That was a valid point. 

“Besides, I think I know the perfect horse. Shoo! Go wander!” she turned her attention to the horses still milling around and sent them away. Scott sighed in relief, glad to have his personal space again.

“Where is Dawn?” she asked Midnightwarrior. Why was she asking her horse? But the dark horse snorted and trotted away.

“I guess he won’t help,” Scott muttered, eyebrow raised.

“He’s going to get her,” Rebecca smiled.

“You can talk to horses? You really are a witch,” Scott teased, feeling a smile tugging at his mouth.

“I just understand them, and they understand me. But at the rate I am going I probably will be more of a witch than a druid,” she grinned and remembered something. “Oh, we’ll have to check the post box, our books should be here.”

“Those’ll keep me busy,” he admitted, thinking of the pile he would be receiving.

“Now, for Dawn, it’s important to know some things. You’ll need to stay calm with her, and she does much better with positive reinforcement. Try not to shout or hit, and definitely do not use a whip. Be best if you didn’t carry one at all,” Rebecca advised.

“Why?”

“She will probably buck you off and bite you. I don’t know the details but she I think she went through trauma of some sort, she gets very anxious if she thinks you are angry with her,” she explained.

“And you think she’ll be a good fit for me?” Scott asked, a bit bewildered. 

“I think she’ll be able to help you quite a bit,” Rebecca grinned.

“Her help me?” he was even more confused now.

“She’s a horse that has been through trauma who is desperate to please and receive affection and approval. I think you’ll both be able to work through some issues together,” Rebecca was glad when the look of understanding crossed his face and he scowled and looked away.

“Doubt it,” he muttered. How would a horse do that?

“At the very least she’s good at western, she’s very quick on her hooves and excellent at changing direction on a moment’s notice. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made a good cutting horse, but I haven’t seen any competitions on Jorvik to test that theory,” Rebecca added.

Midnightwarrior snorted, returning with a palomino mare a little shorter than him. Scott stared at the mare, his heart clenching a bit. He didn’t like it, but there was something about how the mare held herself, how she looked around, fear and caution just under the surface. It reminded him of himself.

“Thank you! Alright Dawn, that’s a good sweetie,” Rebecca let go of Scott to walk toward the mare, Dawn prancing up and nudging Rebecca. 

“This is Scott,” she looked at Scott, Dawn’s ears and eyes following and looking at Scott.

“Come say hello,” Rebecca beckoned, hand out to Scott. He tried to stay calm, tried to not be threatening at all. He stepped forward and took Rebecca’s hand, and she guided his hand to Dawn’s muzzle.

The mare took a deep breath, smelling Scott’s hand, and withdrew a bit. Rebecca let go of Scott’s hand.

“She looks like you,” Scott muttered, unsure what to do now.

“You think? I always pictured myself as a cremello. The blue eyes and all,” Rebecca said, watching Dawn as she slowly approached Scott, studying him as she eased closer. Scott stood still. Normally he’d just go for the horse, loop a rope around them and tack them up. But this was Rebecca’s horse, and he felt like he needed permission from Rebecca before he could touch Dawn.

“Good,” Rebecca murmured, Dawn blowing on Scott’s face.

“Blow back, say hello,” she suggested.

“What?” he glanced at her. 

“Blow on her nose so she can get your smell,” she explained a bit more, Scott not understanding.

But he did it anyway, blowing through his mouth at Dawn’s nose. The mare’s nostrils flared, inhaling his breath. The mare snorted, shook her head, and then lowered her head and pressed it against his chest.

“She likes you, you can touch her now,” Rebecca informed him, smiling.

“I know,” Scott wasn’t sure why he said that, but he felt a bit of pride. This horse had come to him, and now he was able to touch the velvety nose and stroke her face. He hadn’t forced the horse to do anything. It was an oddly satisfying feelings.

“Come on,” Rebecca called, heading back into the barn, Midnightwarrior following. Scott stepped away from Dawn, wondering what to do, and Dawn followed. He was surprised to find how closely she followed, her head resting over his shoulder as she followed him into the barn. He didn’t remember ever seeing something like this in real life, maybe in movies with the perfect match of horse and rider, but that was just movie magic. 

“Horse tack is here, go ahead and pick whatever western tack you want for her, it should all fit her pretty well,” Rebecca instructed before she went to her closet to get dressed for the day. 

Dawn watched Scott as he picked out tack. He wondered how Rebecca had managed to get all the equipment, or how she managed to keep it organized. 

Rebecca returned, dressed and carrying packages, as Scott was tacking up Dawn. 

“I already grabbed my book, so these are all yours,” she informed him, smirking as he winced at the stack of books. Had they sent more books? The pile looked even bigger today.

“Are you sure?” he asked, hoping maybe they had sent her extra books.

“I checked, these are yours. Feel free to grab a saddle bag for these,” she said, putting the books on the counter in the tack room. 

Once he got the saddle bag crammed with books he mounted up, seeing Rebecca finishing Midnightwarrior and mounting as well.

“So, drop those off in your tool shed, and then go for a run?” she asked.

“Sure!”

Rebecca’s stomach growled.

“Um, get some food, drop off the books, then go for a run?” she amended and he nodded. 

Scott was amazed that Dawn and Midnight just stood by happily nickering to each other while Rebecca and Scott got breakfast at a cafe by the harbor. Scott was also amazed that they got free food, the owner reassuring Rebecca that it was on the house.

“Why does everyone like you?” Scott muttered when the owner, Catherine, left them with their food.

“Because I smile,” she said with a big smirk, “also I help people out.”

“I think you have a need to be liked by everyone,” Scott observed and Rebecca shrugged.

“I was worse when I was younger, if you can believe that.”

“I can’t,” he admitted, taking a bite of his sandwich. Oh delicious food, it had been too long.

“Everyone likes me, so seems like a good deal to me,” she shrugged. 

“And the people who just take advantage of it?” Scott said between bites of food.

“Eh, they’re jerks, but it doesn’t bother me much, I know I did a good thing even if I don’t get thanked for it,” she explained. “I know, I’m so weird,” she added in a teasing voice when he looked at her funny.

“That’s one word for it,” he muttered, finishing his sandwich. 

They thanked Catherine for the food and headed south to Butter Hill, Rebecca noticing that Scott was gradually growing tenser as they approached. 

“We’re on horses, we can run away if someone yells at you,” Rebecca pointed out, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah,” he muttered, his mood not improved. 

To Scott’s relief Junior wasn’t prowling around looking for him, and he was able to stash the books, and grab some cash just in case. 

“Right then,” Rebecca headed toward The Great Thunder, much to Scott’s panic.

“We can’t jump that!”

“Yes we can!” Rebecca grinned, “just trust Dawn, she’s done it before!” she called before Midnightwarrior ran and carried her over the chasm. 

Just trust a horse he just met. Right. Trust. Trust wasn’t something he did. 

“Should we come back?” Rebecca called, waiting on the other side. 

Scott looked down at the palomino mare, she seemed totally calm, ears on Rebecca before flicking back to Scott.

“Okay… just… go to Rebecca,” he tried to not feel the fear and nerves, he didn’t want to get Dawn killed. Or himself. Why did he think of Dawn first? He blinked and shook his head before he looked ahead at Rebecca. Just go to Rebecca. That was easy.

Dawn took a few steps back, Scott trying not to panic because he didn’t tell her to do that, was she scared? Was she backing away? But then Dawn tensed, shifting back into her haunches, and Scott held tight just before she leapt forward. All he had to do was hold on, surprised by the sudden speed and wind blowing in his face before it all stopped in a thud, Dawn standing on the other side tossing her head.

“Told you,” Rebecca smiled, amused by his blush and hand on his hat, shoving it back into place. 

They rode through New Hillcrest at a much more relaxed pace, Scott suspected she was letting Scott recover and stop shaking from the jump but he said nothing. Mostly he was busy looking around, a slight scowl on his face as he saw the looks in his direction. There was less disgust and hatred though, it was more confusion seeing Rebecca, cheery and smiling, with Scott. Rebecca waved and called hello to a few people and they waved back, smiling but clearly confused by Scott.

“Your good name won’t last long,” Scott muttered to her as they climbed up the bridge to South Hoof.

“I have been seen with worse than a Buttergood,” Rebecca grinned and added, “maybe your bad name won’t last much longer.”

“Doubt that,” he grumbled. The Buttergoods had earned their reputation over generations of being generally nasty to everyone. 

“Hello Singing Yew!” she called and waved to the giant tree on South Hoof as they rode by, and Scott was sure he imagined the tree creaking in response.

“Maybe you are a druid, talking to trees,” Scott teased. 

“Nah, the druids don’t like me at all!” she laughed, Midnightwarrior slowing down so she could remove her gloves and long sleeved jacket and stash them in the saddlebag.

“No one here to ask,” she explained, taking up the reins once more and leading the way.

“So where are you taking me today?” Scott asked.

“Just here I think, maybe to the western courses around Jorvik. I want you to meet someone,” she explained as she led him down a slope toward a little house and garden.

“Hello! Where is Justin?” she asked the old man who glared at them.

“No how are you doing? No manners, bah, this is why I don’t like people…” the old man grumbled.

“Would you rather I stay here and talk to you?” she asked with a smirk, the old man grimacing at the thought.

“He’s with the ponies,” he answered in a huff, not wanting to talk unless it was complaining about the lack of manners in humans.

“Thank you!” she said with a bright smile and waved goodbye before heading back up the slope. Scott tipped his hat toward the old man, not sure why he did it, and followed Rebecca.

“The ponies?” Scott asked when Rebecca stopped at the top of the slope.

“The wild Welsh ponies,” Rebecca explained, standing up in her saddle to try to see where the herd was.

“I guess we’ll find him if we run around long enough,” she said with a shrug when she didn’t see the herd. Scott didn’t offer any protest and followed, the group traveling at an easy lope. 

“So, this Justin, he a friend?” Scott asked, wondering who Rebecca wanted him to meet. More specifically, he wondered what Justin knew about Rebecca, as she was not hiding her arms or hands. 

“Yup! He was the first person I met in Jorvik, and he’s a bit involved in the magic stuff. Plus, I think you two will get along well, and you definitely need friends,” she explained, a bit teasing.

“What am I, your charity project?” he huffed, wondering just what her goals were with him.

“I won’t be here all the time,” she said more seriously, and it made Scott nervous. 

“Ah! Justin!” she hollered, waving her hands to get the attention of the pony herd moving in the distance. A palomino with a person, Scott assumed Justin, broke off from the herd and headed toward them.

“Hey Rebecca! And…?” Justin glanced from her bare arms to Scott to Rebecca, confused.

“Hi Justin! This is Scott, he needs friends!”

“I do not,” Scott scowled, not liking how Rebecca was leading off.

“Pleasure to meet you, Scott! Don’t mind Rebecca, she collects lonely people,” Justin teased and Rebecca shrugged, not disagreeing.

“I guess lonely people just gravitate toward me,” she said, flicking her hair and grinning.

“Nice to meet you,” Scott said, tipping his hat to Justin and not sure where to go from there.

“Well, I figured you two are lonely so you guys should be friends! And you have a lot in common, both of you believe in magic, you have nasty relatives, you both like horses, you two will get along! You two have fun, I’m going to visit the ponies!” Rebecca said in a rush before she took off, leaving the two young men together.

“Is she always like that?” Scott asked, accepting his fate that he was to try to make friends with Justin.

“She’s…” Justin paused, a sad and guilty look crossing his face, “she’s trying. So, magic? What do you know?”

“Ah, not much? I know she’s got something with the druids, and it’s like she can talk to animals. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a witch,” Scott tried to joke, noticing Justin’s face grew dark at the mention of the druids. Seemed they were a sore spot for a lot of people.

“Alright, just wondering,” Justin said with a shrug, trying to gauge how much he could talk about with Scott.

“She must trust you,” Scott continued, “showing her hands and all around you.”

“Yeah… we’ve been through a lot together,” Just said, his guilty expression back.

“Uh… so, what did you mean by she’s trying?” Scott asked, trying to learn more. Rebecca was a safe topic, it was something they both could talk about.

“She was pretty shy when she first came to Moorland. And now… well, she doesn’t like letting people see her. She tries to hide what she is feeling and tries to come off as happy and upbeat all the time.”

Scott didn’t say anything for a moment, watching her in the distance. The herd of ponies had surrounded her, she was probably having a great time saying hello to all the ponies.

“I got that feeling from her, she doesn’t do a good job of hiding it,” Scott admitted.

“Oh?”

“She was rather… volatile yesterday. She bounced between smiling and cracking jokes to being so… bitter. She always tried to brush it off though,” Scott explained and Justin nodded.

“Yesterday must have been a bad day for her, or she feels safe around you and let her guard down a bit,” Justin suggested with a shrug.

“Her… her scars,” Scott stopped himself, not sure if he should ask. Justin might not even know, and it really should be Rebecca who told him, right?

“Did she tell you?” Justin asked quietly, looking away.

“Something about… torture?” Scott didn’t like saying the word, he didn’t like remembering her fear and her sobs.

“Yeah,” Justin muttered, looking down at his own hands, “my… my grandfather. He didn’t like that she helped the druids.”

“Grandfather? And I thought my family was bad…” Scott muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s just my grandfather! Everyone else is nice!” Justin declared, trying to defend his family, “Well, maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“I… I worry about what I may have inherited from him,” Justin admitted.

“I know, I think about that a lot too,” Scott confessed. It was surprisingly easy to open up to Justin.

“Oh?” Justin asked, curious.

“Buttergoods are rancid, have been for generations,” Scott said bitterly, “I don’t know why that’d change with me.”

“Oh! I thought you looked a bit familiar,” Justin said, studying Scott closer now. The Silverglades and the Buttergoods were both prominent families, and while Justin wasn’t too involved in the Silverglade part he did have a vague idea of who the big families were. He remembered seeing Valdemar Buttergood when he was younger, and he remembered being a bit afraid. Valdemar Buttergood had a sort of vacant expression, made worse by his facial structure. Strong and prominent bones jutted out of pale skin, and where there weren’t bones there were drastic hollows, making Valdemar look like a victim of starvation. The man just looked hollow, and Justin as a young boy had feared that Valdemar Buttergood was going to suck out his soul with his piercing glare. 

Thankfully, Scott didn’t look nearly as terrifying, but the pale skin and strong bone structure was definitely that of a Buttergood’s. It was the classic dark and brooding type of handsome.

“Thanks,” Scott said with an eye roll.

“I mean! Not in a bad way? You don’t look, well you do look like your father, but like… I thought you dad looked like some Nosferatu with too much shading and contouring. But you don’t look like that! You do, but not scary?” Justin tried to explain, getting flustered and turning red as he tried to explain without insulting Scott.

Scott, to the surprise of both of them, laughed.

“Rebecca called me a vampire too, though she said Dracula,” Scott told Justin, making Justin chuckle.

“Yeah, Dracula normally looks pretty good,” Justin agreed.

“Well I’m glad I meet your approval,” Scott said, adding a rough edge to his voice to make it husky. He was surprised, and amused, when Justin smirked and glanced away with a bright blush.

Rebecca, meanwhile, was giving all the ponies their scratches, reaching those hard to reach areas that the horses couldn’t get to themselves. She glanced over at the pair of young men and palominos, glad that it looked like they were getting along. Their horses were happily grazing at least, and if the horses were relaxed then the boys must have been relaxed as well.

“Think we should go get them?” Rebecca asked Midnightwarrior, the warmblood grazing and swishing his tail. 

Rebecca returned to them while they were talking about western riding, both of them lamenting that there were not more around Jorvik.

“I see you two are getting along,” Rebecca said with a satisfied grin. 

“Ehh, he’s alright,” Scott said with a shrug, Justin snorting a laugh.

“I was thinking about taking Scott to some of the western courses, did you want to come?” Rebecca asked Justin. She knew he might want to stay on South Hoof, away from the crowds.

“Yeah sure! Just, uh…” Justin wasn’t sure how to ask for protection but Rebecca patted her saddle bag.

“No worries, and if the Bobcat girls swarm you I’ll distract them!” Rebecca teased, making Justin blush.

“Bobcat girls?” Scott asked, curious.

“The Moorland riding club is The Bobcats, I don’t know if there are only girls in it because it is exclusive or if no guys have tried to get in,” Rebecca explained, wondering the last part out loud. Aside from Justin there weren’t really any young guys around Moorland. 

“Oooh,” Scott said with a smirk, looking at Rebecca.

“Do you like teenagers? Because they’re like, all in high school,” Rebecca said flatly.

“Oh,” Scott wrinkled his nose, his teasing gone. 

“Yeah that’s what I thought,” Rebecca grinned, pleased that he was trying to make jokes and tease. 

“I mean some of them are nice,” Justin pointed out as they rode down to the ferry.

“Of course! I’m just saying it’s not a good place to try to pick up a date.”

“Oh, well, yeah, true,” Justin agreed to that.

“You’ll probably only have to deal with the nice ones, Scott, the real queen bee will no doubt be trying to get Justin’s attention,” Rebecca reassured Scott, grinning at Justin’s whine of protest.

“But…” Justin pouted.

“Loretta helped Alex and I get you, you can at least thank her for that,” Rebecca pointed out, “and then maybe have a real talk with her.”

“I… uh…” Justin blushed, looking away and not speaking coherently.

“Got a crush?” Scott smirked.

“I am the crush,” Justin grumbled, not pleased with the situation.

“Heh, sounds terrible,” Scott said unsympathetically.

“I didn’t even know she liked me!” Justin cried, his welsh pony snorting and tossing her head.

“How?” Scott asked, confused.

“She never actually told me! She barely talked to me! How was I supposed to know!” Justin complained.

“Loretta did the call ‘dibs but don’t actually inform him that they’re dating’ thing, so everyone just thinks they are dating because Loretta says so,” Rebecca explained.

“I thought she was just being nice!” Justin continued to wail.

“Also Justin is oblivious,” Rebecca added with a grin. 

“I! Okay, yeah, looking back it is pretty obvious, but!” Justin didn’t say anything after that.

“But?” Rebecca teased, trying to get him to continue.

“I don’t know,” Justin muttered.

“Scott, do your scariest vampire glare impression and protect Justin!” Rebecca looked at Scott with a pleading look.

“Naw, he’s on his own,” Scott said with a snort.

“Dude!” Justin whined, “please!”

“I could use a good laugh,” Scott joked, resisting.

“You won’t be laughing for long…” Justin muttered, making Scott tense up. Was that a threat?

“Oh?” Scott said, tight, bracing himself for a shouting match.

“There are over a dozen girls regularly around Moorland, and only two guys close to their age, including me. You do the math,” Justin smirked, Scott’s face going a bit grey but relaxing.

“Oh…” Scott looked over at Rebecca, pleading to not be left alone. 

“Hey, not my fault you’re the ideal Tall, Dark, and Handsome,” Rebecca said with a shrug. 

“I mean…” Scott peacocked a bit, flexing and showing off his muscles through his flannel shirt, “I don’t mind if you think so…”

“Oh, I do,” Justin said, laughing at Scott’s confused expression, Justin leaning over and giving Scott a pat on the back.

“Ahh, Moorland, so simple, so peaceful,” Rebecca muttered as they passed by Jasper’s farm, Moorland coming into view. She had put back on her long sleeves and gloves on the ferry to not attract attention in the crowds around Fort Pinta.

“Try being here when there is a school dance coming up,” Justin chuckled.

Rebecca noticed Conrad looking pointedly at her from his forge as they passed by.

“I’ll be right there. Justin, want to introduce Scott to Josh?” Rebecca suggested, getting them to go on ahead as she turned in and dismounted, close to Conrad. That look he was giving her made it seem very important, and possibly secret.

“You need to be careful who you associate with,” Conrad muttered to her.

“What? I know the Buttergoods have a bad rep, but-”

“I don’t mean the boy, I mean that store you went to yesterday,” Conrad explained, Rebecca going a bit pale.

“I didn’t realize the animals reported to you,” Rebecca said, crossing her arms.

“Oh no, the squirrels didn’t squeal on you. Noach came to me trying to barter with some very interesting crystals.”

“Barter? For what?” Rebecca asked, curious by how dark his expression got.

“Dangerous things. Things only the druids should have. You need to stay away from the Cranepoulos family. And, for Aideen’s sake! Don’t give away such valuable things! If those crystals fall into the wrong hands!”

“Dark Core already has access to Pandoria,” Rebecca pointed out, Conrad’s face turning white, then red. 

“PAN-” he screamed before he caught himself, “you gave the uninitiated Pandoric crystals!?” he hissed in a much quieter tone. 

“I’m sure other people have ways to get-”

“No! No they don’t! The druids and Dark Core are the only ones with access to Pandoria!”

“But Evergray has been with the witches in the north for decades, I’m sure-”

“Ugh, Aideen help me! If the witches can get there...” Conrad groaned, Rebecca growing stiff and scowling.

“At any rate it’s already been done, I can’t just go take it back from them,” Rebecca pointed out.

“What did you get from them?” Conrad asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Huh, let me see, what would I get from a bookshop I wonder,” Rebecca snapped.

“What book?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes!”

“Why, do they have cursed books that are going to trap my soul or something?”

Conrad paused and thought for a moment, “actually they might.”

“Oh, well, I already opened it and read the first page and I still have my soul,” Rebecca reassured him. 

“Just… there are dangerous people, with dangerous beliefs, you don’t know enough yet to know the difference,” Conrad said, his tone turning more gentle and concerned.

“Yeah, if only there was someone who could teach me, or maybe an entire group of people who would educate me in magic and Aideen. If only,” Rebecca said sarcastically before saying, “when the druids start actually teaching me, I’ll stop looking elsewhere to learn.”

“The druids have their reasons,” Conrad said, grabbing Rebecca’s arm to keep her from leaving before he said her piece.

“So do I,” she snarled, snatching off her glove and showing the scars to Conrad, “Maybe I wouldn’t have had to kill people if they had actually trusted me enough to teach me!”

“You have to trust the druids!” Conrad hissed.

“They have given me no reason to, now let go before I lose control,” Rebecca warned.

“Rebecca-” he jerked back and grasped his hand, pain shooting through his hand as a red burn formed on his palm.

“Oops,” Rebecca said, not apologetic at all that she had just shocked him. But, knowing her quarrel was with the druids and not Conrad, she dug into her saddle bag and pulled out the purple flask.

“Now do you understand?” she asked, opening the flask and dropping a few drops of Aideen’s Tears on his hand, the redness and pain vanishing. “I barely have any control over it, I’m scared of getting angry, I can feel the energy building when I get anxious and stressed. The druids won’t teach me, but others will.” With that Rebecca got back up on Midnightwarrior and went the rest of the way to meet up with the others. Conrad stared at his hand where she had burned him, now completely healed. She was right, she needed training. Conrad decided he would speak to the druids before she became a threat.

The boys, meanwhile, were almost having a better time. 

Loretta had spotted Justin the moment he came into view and had made a point of looking aloof, waiting for him to come to her. Other Bobcat girls were appreciating Scott, as Loretta couldn’t punish them for gawking at someone she hadn’t claimed. 

Scott didn’t know what to do with his face, should he be grumpy? Angry? Scary? Should he be smiling? He just knew he felt out of place. These weren’t girls he could swoon and fuck, nor did he want to. He preferred women who were, well, women. Not teenagers. 

“Hey Justin,” Julie purred, “who’s the friend?” she looked at Scott and winked, but Tan had already moved up directly to Scott, making Justin and Scott stop their horses.

“I’m Tan,” she introduced herself, casting Julie a back off glare. Tan was higher in the Bobcat pecking order. 

“Uh, this is Scott,” Justin introduced, Scott saying nothing but tipping his cowboy hat. He didn’t know what he would sound like if he tried to speak. 

“I can show you around if you want!” Tan offered, not being subtle at all. She was going to make it clear that she called dibs before anyone else got any ideas. 

“Thanks Tan! I got it covered!” Justin saved Scott from trying to get out of it, directing his pony around the girls, Dawn following without Scott needing to tell her.

Scott, meanwhile, had picked out who he guessed was Loretta. He thought it was Loretta because she was peacocking worse than he did, looking aloof while puffing out her chest and popping her hip to the side, her lips pushed out and parted just a bit, and trying desperately to not look directly at Justin. He cast a glance back at her when Justin went past, heading over to a wagon instead. As he suspected, she looked thoroughly insulted and shocked. 

“You’re just going to ignore her?” Scott leaned over and whispered to Justin.

“I’ll get you to Josh first, then I’ll talk to her,” Justin promised. At least if Scott was with Josh he would only be slightly swarmed by Bobcats. 

“Heya Justin! Been a while!” Josh perked up when he recognized Justin before casting a curious glance at Scott.

“This is Scott, a friend of mine. He, well, you can probably guess,” Justin trailed off and smirked at Scott.

“A western fan, ehh? Happy to meet you! I’m Josh!” he introduced himself and reached up, shaking Scott’s hand. It was warm and friendly, not a vice grip to show who was in charge.

“You have a beautiful horse!” Josh complimented, patting Dawn and then looking at her closer, recognizing her.

“Rebecca loaned her to me,” Scott explained, a lightbulb going off in Josh’s head and he smiled and nodded.

“She’s a darling, and so are you, Dawn!” Josh said, giving the mare an affectionate kiss on the cheek. Dawn raised her head and rubbed her nose on Josh, giving him a horse kiss in return. 

“So, Josh, can you show him the course? Talk some western for a bit?” Justin asked Josh, Josh grinning and raising his fist. Justin returned the fist bump and nodded to Scott before he and his pony backtracked to Loretta.

“So, Sco-”

“What a beautiful horse!” another Bobcat girl cooed, Tan distracted by Loretta. 

“Yeah, she is,” Scott said, patting Dawn’s neck, not liking how the Bobcat girl crept closer, leaning against him. Before she could say anything else Scott looked back at Josh with a, “you were saying?”

“Yeah! Scott! Do you have any experience western? We only have a pole bending course set up here unfortunately,” Josh said apologetically, clearly wanting more. 

“Some, but not enough,” Scott said with a grin. Christ what had Rebecca done to him? Just a few days ago his default expression was a scowl, now here he was smiling at people he had just met. 

“Good answer!” Josh said with a laugh.

“Although Rebecca gave you a cheat horse,” Josh continued with a more teasing voice, and Scott heard an audible gasp from the Bobcat girl who was creeping onto his leg.

“How so?”

“Dawn could do this course on her own,” Josh explained, Scott snorting.

“Right,” Scott rolled his eyes, surprised when Josh gestured to the ground.

“Wanna bet?” Josh smirked, piquing Scott’s interest and making him dismount.

“I’m Emilie,” the girl finally introduced, sticking close to Scott’s side and trying to get his attention. 

“Scott,” he replied out of politeness, watching Josh secure Dawn’s reins so she couldn’t trip and tightened the stirrups so they wouldn’t flap and scare her.

“Well Josh, how do we make her go without someone on her?” Scott asked with a smirk.

“Just step back,” Josh said and picked off his cowboy hat, holding it over the start line. Dawn looked back at Scott, but positioned herself at the starting line, keeping Josh’s hat in her line of sight. Scott saw her lean back, crouching on her haunches again.

“GO!” Josh shouted, waving the hat, Dawn jumping forward and kicking up a spray of dirt. But Josh was right, Dawn sprinted to the end, spun, wove through the poles and blasted back to the finish line.

“Well. Damn. Glad I didn’t bet money,” Scott muttered, Dawn swishing her tail and prancing, nudging him. Josh laughed and clapped his hand on Scott’s shoulder, pulling him into a side hug.

“I wouldn’t do that to ya!” Josh promised, Scott a bit frozen after the friendly contact. From a man. Did guys really do that when they were friends? The concept of a man touching him and it not being aggressive in some way just stunned him. Dawn nudged him, breaking him from his thoughts. Scott adjusted the stirrups and reins so he could ride again, and got back up on Dawn.

“Ready for your own run?” Josh asked, holding a stopwatch and grinning. 

“Oh, hello Justin,” Loretta tried to remain as aloof as possible when Justin rode up to her. Tan smirked and made herself scarce, but not so scarce that she couldn’t hear everything.

“I wanted to thank you for what you did by helping Rebecca and Alex,” Loretta managed to not cringe at the mention of the other two girls, instead smirking and flipping her hair.

“Well, I did it for you, not them,” Loretta smiled at him, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Either way, thank you,” Justin reiterated.

“So, are you back for good?” Loretta drawled, a sweet smile on her face.

“No, I have more to do,” Justin said, making her smile fade.

“Why? When will you come back to me?” Loretta asked, edging closer to him.

“Loretta,” Justin took a deep breath, bracing himself.

“Yes?” she asked, hopeful, leaning closer.

“I don’t know where you got the idea that we were together, but we’re not.”

Loretta laughed, she didn’t know what else to do, surely he was joking.

“Oh Justin! Puh-leeze! It’s obvious you’re into me!” Loretta said, laughing and smiling at him.

Justin shook his head and muttered, “No, I just thought you were being nice to me and we were friends.”

“Oh really? That’s all…?” she drawled, batting her eyes at him, lips wet and parted slightly.

“Yeah, just friends,” Justin said again, guilty and sad as he saw the pain in her eyes.

“What did Rebecca do to you?” she whispered, angry now.

“Rebecca? What does she-?”

“Oh you know what I’m talking about! That tramp shows up and everything gets weird! Everything was fine until she showed up! What did she do?!” Loretta demanded in an furious hiss. 

“She didn’t do anything to me! If anything she made me a better person!” Justin snapped back, keeping quiet.

“She changed you! I want it to go back to how it was with us!” Loretta begged, trying to grab Justin’s hand.

“There is no us! There never was! Look, Loretta, I hate to hurt your feelings-”

“Then don’t! Why are you doing this!?” she interrupted but he kept going.

“But I’m not interested in you, never was. You’re going to grow up to be a wonderful woman if you give yourself the chance, and you’ll find someone.”

“What is that supposed to mean!? I’m already wonderful! I found you!”

“No, you’re a petulant child who thinks you can call dibs on a person and make everyone else do your work while you sit high and mighty thinking yourself important because you bully people into obeying you,” Justin snapped, Loretta staring at him, her face going pale. 

“Thank you for your help, have a good day,” Justin said, returning to Josh and Scott.

“How’d it go?” Scott asked, seeing Justin’s sour expression.

“It went. I think she got the point,” Justin muttered, looking away. He was glad he wouldn’t be around Moorland much.

Rebecca did not miss the death glare from Loretta, or some of the other Bobcat girls who had heard the conversation. She just sighed and moved on, catching up with the boys.

“Did you talk to Loretta?” Rebecca asked dryly.

“Yeah? How could-” Justin glanced and saw the ugly looks directed at Rebecca, “ooooh. Maybe we should leave.”

“Oh no, what are they going to do, kill me?” Rebecca asked sarcastically. After everything she had been through some grumpy girls not liking her was not something she even worried about.

“So! Josh! How you liking Scott?” Rebecca changed the conversation, looking at Josh who was clearly pleased to meet another Western enthusiast.

“I have a new best friend!” he crowed, Scott blinking and blushing.

“Yay!” Rebecca cheered, clapping her hands.

“I’m gonna…” Scott nodded toward the pole bending course, Dawn throwing her head to go again.

“Good luck!” Rebecca called, and Josh started them again.

“What happened?” Justin whispered to Rebecca.

“Huh?”

“What did Conrad want?”

“Oh, the druids found out I went to a bookshop yesterday owned by not druids. They didn’t like that I paid in crystals, and don’t like the people who own the shop.”

“So you’re in trouble again,” Justin sighed.

“Yup. I wouldn’t feel the need to find information elsewhere if they actually taught me, but noooo. I’m too dangerous even to be taught or something,” Rebecca said bitterly, not hiding her scowl and Scott looked at her with concern.

“I’ll catch you up later,” she let him know before she looked at Josh.

“Mind if I have a run?” she asked, smiling and thanking Josh before taking off around the course.

“Bad day for her?” Scott asked Justin.

“Bad day in Moorland,” Justin muttered.

“We don’t have to stay in Moorland,” Scott pointed out.

“How about it?” Justin asked, Rebecca sliding back to them after completing the pole bending course.

“What?”

“Scott has met Josh, we can continue on to Marley’s barrel race,” Justin explained. 

“Scott can stay here!” Emilie protested, speaking up and moving toward Scott.

“I’ll go,” Scott said, earning Rebecca another glare.

“Emilie, how old are you?” Rebecca asked suddenly, Emilie puffing out her chest and smirking.

“17,” she said proudly. Rebecca looked at Scott with a raised eyebrow.

“25,” Scott said.

“What?” Emilie said, confused.

“I’m 25. You are way too young to be flirting with me,” Scott said, gave Dawn a squeeze, and trotted away.

“Oh and you’re not?!” Emile snapped at Rebecca.

“Honey, I’m 24,” Rebecca sighed and rolled her eyes, following Scott. Justin snickered but waved Josh goodbye and followed as well. 

“So does that make you a cougar?” Justin teased Rebecca.

“Absolutely. You are my little cub,” Rebecca joked back. Scott glanced back with a raised eyebrow. 

“Geez this sounds weird, doesn’t it?” Rebecca grinned, blushing a bit.

“Yeah, a bit,” Scott smirked, slowing a bit so the three of them could ride in a line together.

“Ah, you haven’t told him?” Justin asked Rebecca.

“Dude, I don’t know what’s happening with us!” Rebecca snorted in response.

“What’s happening?” Scott glanced between them, confused. 

“Nothing, maybe, I don’t know. I wanted to be friends with you but someone,” she gave a pointed look at Justin, “seems to want to rush into something faster.”

“Whoa, I wouldn’t say rush!” Justin protested.

“Explain, please,” Scott sighed, annoyed.

“Okay so, don’t take this the wrong way, and I don’t mean to make it seem like I’m coming onto you. But I guess you get to learn about my sexuality,” Rebecca said, blushing, “or not really my sexuality. It’s only complicated if you want all the details.”

“You’re not making sense,” Scott told her, confused now.

“I’m polyamorous. I’m asexual, I don’t experience sexual attraction, but I do experience romantic attraction. I experience it for multiple people at once, and like the idea of being with multiple people at once in just one big happy relationship pile,” Rebecca explained, giving him an embarrassed and worried smile. She didn’t know how he would react.

“Wait, you don’t experience sexual attraction? But then…?” Scott trailed off, wondering about the previous night.

“I like sex, specifically with people I am comfortable with and care about. But I’m not sexually attracted to anyone. I don’t look at a person and want to fuck them. Sex is more of a… it’s just another thing I can do with people I like, like going to the movies and having dinner, or hugging or kissing. It’s just another way of showing affection for me,” she tried to explain.

“That… makes no sense,” Scott muttered, trying to understand. Sex was part of human biology, how could she just … not be into it? Except she was?

“Okay. Umm. Think of basic human desires, thirst, hunger, sleep. You can look at a glass of water and go ‘damn I really want to drink that’ or the same with food. I don’t have that when it comes to sex, I don’t look at a person and have an urge to have sex with them. Or, for a kind of weird metaphor let’s go with hunger. Sometimes you’re just hungry, you don’t care what it is you just want food. That’s kind of like sex drive, you want to have sex you just don’t really care who it is with you. But sometimes you a carving a particular type of food, like maybe you are really hungering for some pizza. That’s like having a sexual attraction, your hunger attraction is pizza, maybe your sexual attraction is for redheads. And then that can get specific of you want a specific pizza from a specific store, that’s like you want to have sex with a specific redhead you know. Is this making any sense?”

“So… you get, uh, hungry, but you never crave anything in particular?” Scott tried to understand the food metaphor.

“Yeah! I don’t ‘hunger’ for a type or specific person, if that makes sense,” she was glad he seemed to get it.

“I think?” Scott muttered.

“I needed some explaining too,” Justin offered, smiling at Scott.

“It doesn’t matter of course,” Rebecca added, “it only matters if you want to, you know, be in an actual relationship.”

“Why would it matter?” Scott asked.

“Well a healthy poly relationship only works if everyone is informed, consents, and is happy. So the others would have to approve of you,” she explained.

“What, would I be dating everyone?” Scott asked.

“No, but if one of the people I am dating isn’t happy and doesn’t consent to you and I dating then if I enter into a relationship with you it would be unhealthy, if not cheating,” Rebecca tried to make it clear.

“I, personally, consent and approve,” Justin voted with a raised hand.

“You? Justin?” Scott muttered.

“Hi! I’m one of Rebecca’s boyfriends!” Justin said with a grin.

“Are you like, the top boyfriend?” Scott asked, not sure how he felt about all this new information. These past two days were a rollercoaster of emotions for him.

“Oh, am I?” Justin teased, looking at Rebecca with puppy eyes.

“You know there isn’t a rank system, it’s all equal,” Rebecca pointed out.

“Her top is Midnightwarrior,” Justin said much more seriously.

“She does love her horse,” Scott teased, amused.

“Damn straight Midnight is my favorite. I’d pick him over all of you any day!” she declared, Midnight tossing his head and snorting.

“Knew it,” Justin snorted.

“What was it you said, you love him like you love your own soul?” Scott teased, Rebecca blushing and trying not to look at Justin.

“Your own soul, you say?” Justin muttered, glancing between the stallion and woman.

“See something?” Rebecca asked, joking, but Scott noticed how tense her back got.

“Well we all know you’ve got a magical bond with Midnightwarrior,” Justin said with a shrug, evidently not seeing anything new. He didn’t have control of his magic, and Rebecca was relieved by that. 

“Oh! Should we stop by Connie?” Justin asked with a smirk.


End file.
